WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a reminder during these election times. Remember it was a Republican majority Senate that derailed Democratic legislation that would have provided $21 billion for medical, education and job-training benefits for the nation’s veterans.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desires to have right-to-work in Illinois went down in flames in the House on Thursday, gaining zero yes votes in a fiery debate Democrats aimed squarely at the governor.

The vote tally was 0 yes votes, 72 no votes and 37 voting present, offering a blistering rebuke to Rauner’s anti-union agenda. A handful of Republicans went for a walk during the vote, not publicly falling on one side or another.

Republicans dismissed the vote as political theater even as Democrats pit workers’ rights against corporate greed and called Rauner “divisive” for touring the state and essentially asking local towns to kick unions out.

“Don’t be afraid, stay with us, vote no!” state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Belleville, said.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, lambasted Democrats for moving what he said amounted to “sham bills” in the House. The legislation voted on Thursday was not drafted by the governor’s office. Last week, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan had urged Rauner to give him language for a bill, needling Rauner that he had talked about right-to-work for 100 days.

“What’s happening today, what happened last week really is a disservice to this body, to this chamber and to this building,” Durkin said. “I’m embarrassed to be part of this process today. I think this is a very dark moment in this body’s chamber.”

Rauner’s office countered that Madigan and Democrats were walking away from the negotiating table by plucking out controversial issues and voting them down. In the Capitol on Thursday, Rauner dismissed the notion that a vote on right-to-work was meant to embarrass the governor, who has made it his marquee issue since he was sworn into office in January.
head to Springfield)

Asked whether the vote on right-to-work — which essentially allows people to work in union jobs without paying union dues — was meant to embarrass him, Rauner said: “Difficult negotiations in government often involve political theater. That’s a little bit of what that is. I don’t take it that way. This is just part of a political process. We’re working together and we’ll get through it. . . . There’s a lot of pressure from special-interest groups who don’t want to change. We are in a long slow decline we need to grow pretty strongly . . . we are encouraging Republicans to stay strong together. We’re a super-minority.”